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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Will I still go to heaven if I am cremated? Is it a sin? What does the Bible say?

End of life decisions are often difficult to make. This is especially true when it comes to one's final resting place and funeral. This question is a common one and although the Bible does not specifically mention cremation, I believe that one can conclude that there would be nothing wrong with the practice.

God is a powerful God! The Bible teaches that “the dead in Christ will rise” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). At the time of the resurrection, our mortal bodies will change. (1 Corinthians 15:50-55) describes this amazing transformation.

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

When Jesus comes again, the dead Christians (in whatever form they are in) will be raised to life eternal with God. God does not require a body to be whole for Him to resurrect it. During the early years of the church, Christians were often fed to lions as a punishment for their faith. Although it is a morbid thought, one would imagine that their bodies were no longer intact. What about one who was burned at the stake? God has the power to transform these mangled corpses in the same way that He could one who has be cremated.

It is illogical to believe that one would not go to heaven if they are cremated. What about one who donates their organs to another? What about one who donates their body to science when they die? This physical body will be changed during the final resurrection into an immortal body. If God could form man from the dust of the Earth He can also raise up an individual from their cremated remains.